ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The TCNJ wrestling team capped a historic weekend with its second straight Mideast Regional title and a host of program firsts.

The Lions enjoyed a litany of never-before-seen accomplishments in running away with back-to-back regional crowns for the first time in school history. TCNJ racked up 163.5 team points, well clear of Ithaca's second-place tally of 135.5.

Domenic Difrancescantonio (141), Quinn Haddad (197), and Thomas Marretta (285) all captured individual titles and were joined by runners-up Mike Conklin (149), Matt Sacco (157), and Daniel Surich (184) as NCAA qualifiers, giving TCNJ its largest national haul since sending seven to the championships in 2005. The six-man contingent heads to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the national championships in a little less than two weeks.

Head coach Joe Galante was named Coach of the Year and Maaziah Bethea earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors for the Lions, for whom the historic accomplishments included:

• First back-to-back regional crowns since the NCAA moved to a regional format in 2013
• First time the program placed all 10 wrestlers at regionals
• First time with six regional finalists
• First time with three regional champions

Jake Giordano came up one match shy of NCAA qualification, placing 4^th at 133 pounds. Ryan Rosenthal capped a tremendous rookie campaign by taking 5^th at 125, while Matt Surich was 6^th at 165 and Reid Colella took 7^th at 174.

125
Rosenthal opened with a win over NJCU's Damianlee Torres by pin-fall, putting him within a match of the third-place bout. He nearly made it there, but was knocked out of NCAA contention with a tight 3-2 setback at the hands of Oneonta's Cody Merwin.

Rosenthal rebounded to land a 9-0 major decision against McDaniel's Alex DuFour in the fifth-place bout. He finished his freshman season with a record of 17-6, including five pins and a perfect dual mark (8-0).

133
Giordano recorded a 6-1 victory against Muhlenberg's Frank DiEsso, then stunned Centenary's Jacy Jones with a match-clinching takedown with 12 seconds on the clock in a 3-2 thriller to reach the third-place bout. He was pinned by Brockport's Zach Levey, who claimed the automatic NCAA qualifying berth.

Giordano's outstanding career culminated in an overall mark of 85-17. He was a two-time All-American and finished fifth at the NCAA Championships in 2020.

141
Difrancescantonio had no trouble locking up his first career NCAA bid, spending all but nine seconds of the first period on top of Penn College's Noah Hunt after an early takedown. He tacked on another takedown midway through the second, then used an escape and a takedown in the third to go up 7-0. Difrancescantonio finished with over five minutes of riding time for a resounding 8-0 major.

Difrancescantonio met Ithaca's Travis Jones in the title bout. He pinned Jones in the first period of their head-to-head meeting in January and cruised again in the rematch, rolling to a 12-2 major decision. He'll head to nationals with a 20-3 overall record and a likely high seed in tow.

149
Conklin avenged a prior loss to Ithaca's Matt Beyer in a thrilling semifinal showdown. The rookie opened up a 6-2 lead after a second-period reversal, but his Bomber adversary stormed back to take a 7-6 lead on a takedown with eight seconds remaining in the bout. With over a minute of riding time, Conklin had the safety of overtime behind him, but was able to end it with an escape just before the horn sounded on an incredible 8-7 battle.

The rookie came oh so close to winning the region but dropped a 10-9 overtime heartbreaker to Oneonta's Chandler Merwin. Conklin trailed 8-5 after a frantic first period but rallied to pull even at 8-8 after two and at 9-9 at the end of regulation. Following a scoreless first extra session, Merwin managed to stay on top for the full 30 seconds, then escaped Conklin's clutches in the return to seal a 10-9 final.

Conklin goes to nationals with an overall record of 20-5.

157
Matt Sacco procured his first NCAA bid by edging NJCU's Jeff Johnson in a grinder. Sacco claimed the first point thanks to a second stall warning on Johnson, who started bottom in period 2 and knotted the bout with an escape. Sacco had the upper hand, though, with the choice of bottom to open the third period, and he took the lead with a quick escape.

Despite Johnson's best efforts, Sacco ran out the remaining time and booked his spot in the regional final against RIT's Kaidon Winters, the No. 1 wrestler in the country at 157. Winters won by fall, but Sacco was more than happy to settle for a runner-up finish and a trip to nationals.

165
Matt Surich kept his dreams alive with a 6-3 decision against Alexander LaVeck of McDaniel, but lost to Ithaca's Jackson Gray, 6-2, with a trip to the third-place bout on the line. He settled for sixth place after a 7-3 loss to Elizabethtown's Brian Schneider.

174
Reid Colella grabbed the first takedown of the match against RIT's Zach Stedeford, who managed to pull even with a pair of escapes and send the bout into overtime. Stedeford then scored the walk-off takedown to knock Colella out of NCAA contention with a 4-2 decision.

Colella rebounded to edge McDaniel's Michael Bromley, 4-2, for seventh.

Colella completed his junior season with an overall record of 16-8, four pins, and a regional quarterfinal appearance.

184
Surich defeated Colby Giroux of RIT, 6-3, to punch his ticket to Iowa and advance to the championship bout, where he lost to Ithaca star Chibueze Chukwuezi for the third time this season, 8-4.

Surich is 20-4 on the season.

197
Haddad pulled away for a 5-1 victory over RIT's Josh Harkless to become a two-time NCAA qualifier, then won his second career regional title by medical forfeit over Ithaca's Jordan Wallace. It was the 50^th victory of Haddad's career.

Nationally ranked and a two-time regional champion, Haddad will carry a 19-4 overall mark to Iowa.

285
Marretta downed Keystone's Caleb Burkhart, 7-3, to reach the heavyweight final and secure his first career berth into the NCAA Championships.
In a tough match with Ithaca's Edwin Rubio, Marretta's third-period escape canceled out Rubio's from the second period and sent the men into an overtime period. Marretta walked it off with a takedown, polishing off his first regional crown in scintillating fashion.